Disease of the Heartland
by bicpencils
Summary: I don't even know what happened. I don't know how it happened. I just know that I'm not alone in this - and neither are you. Zombie AU.


**A/N**: I've been working on this fic for quite some time now and I hope it's good! I wanted it to be much longer, but hey, we work with what we have. Ships may be included later on, but will not be the main focus most of the time. I have a lot of plans for this fic and I hope you guys like what I'll do with it. I'm a huge fan of zombie AU's, so I'll be working on this for quite some time and it'll be a pretty big multi-chaptered story.

I was largely influenced by the Truffula Flu AU on tumblr in the Lorax fandom and listened to Dig by Incubus a lot while writing this because of it.

Please enjoy!

* * *

_If I turn into another,_

_Dig me up from under what is covering_

_The better part of me._

_Sing this song._

_Remind me that we'll always have each other_

_When everything else is gone._

* * *

It was never meant to be this way.

If anything, Heartland should have been one of the most peaceful cities on the surface. Of course, there were a selected few people who knew differently, but the filthy secrets were never out in the open and clawing and tearing at the community until _that very day _and Akari was fairly sure that this would have been the perfect opportunity for the news story of the century if she weren't running from the very source.

Tears formed in her eyes as she clawed at the cloth on her brother's legs.

_"GET ME OUT OF THIS THING!"_

It's Todoroki that screeches and clutches Tokunosuke's very round head as the jeep speeds out onto the mostly abandoned highway, and he doesn't really mean it. Beneath the near damn constant screams, you could hear the bones cracking under the tires as they skid through the blood-covered road. Remains of dead-but-not-dead bodies were _walking _and _why were they walking, why were they walking,_ and Akari was fairly sure Todoroki wasn't the only one screaming because the sight was almost too horrifying to bear for even her. One foot placed carelessly on the car's door, Yuma Tsukumo flipped out a map of the area as he stood on the passenger seat, his sister, Akari, clinging onto his leg securely, one hand on the wheel. Sitting in the back were the aforementioned two, as well as Kotori, and _oh god what the hell is that -_

The first two things on Yuma's mind were _why the hell did Shark decide not to go to school that day _and_ why was Tetsuo home sick _because things would have been so much easier if neither happened, but of course if their luck was a number it was definitely somewhere in the negative. So as he was, all he could do was try to keep his balance and yell to his sister where to go, because hey, someone needed to drive and how do you expect anyone to drive without a lookout when blood is smeared on the windshield? All around them, they wished that it was empty, but it was just the opposite because there were people thrown out of windows and being eaten and being beaten and people fighting. But they just couldn't stop, no no, not yet, not until they found their friends. Well, Yuma wanted to find Shark, but of course Akari was somewhat against the idea of putting themselves out there further than for Tetsuo, and Kotori was conflicted between agreeing and wanting to save another person, no matter who it was, and he was pretty sure they just ran one of the things over.

"What was that?!" Akari screamed to him, still refusing to stop the car. He was supposed to be on lookout and last time she checked lookout meant that you needed to tell the person you were looking out for what you could see. Fumbling with his words a bit, Yuma yelled back, "Nothing, just keep going!"

And it was completely obviously _not _nothing, but that basically was the last thing that she cared about. Hey, if it wasn't important enough to stop for, it wasn't important enough to pressure him about, is what she honestly thought at that point. All that they could fit in the car was packed tightly in plastic bags, put together in a fit of panic, food, clothes, and there was absolutely no way that they could get anywhere in any mode of transportation that Akari had. Kotori's mother owned the beautiful piece of junk they were in, apparently. Who knew? Not the time to question, the time to act, and thinking was over, and the time to act started, and Yuma couldn't have been more in his element. Well, he'll admit, he didn't appreciate the whole zombie factor, but other than that, it was perfect for him.

If there was one thing that Yuma definitely wasn't looking forward to, it was going to the area of Shark's former gang again, but he had absolutely no idea of where else to look. Where else _could_ he look? It's at this point that he swears he can hear Tokunosuke screaming irately at the Chairman, but he couldn't be bothered to laugh because he was pretty sure Astral was simultaneously asking him about what the entrails of humans were and their functions and yelling that they weren't moving and what was wrong with them and of course, just his luck, Astral didn't properly understand death. Yuma wondered if he'd understand _with_ his memories, but it didn't _matter, _because they weren't going to collect any Numbers anytime soon...just what the hell was Kaito doing if he couldn't get the Numbers?

It wasn't the time, though, to be wondering about the people who very likely wanted to kill him, so Yuma messily directed traffic for his older sister until they came to a very sharp stop at a large house where _fuck, that smell_. The blood, the bodies, the walking people, they all smelled like death itself. The sight was even worse, entrails lining the walls, broken glass from shattered windows, the door off its hinges, and if Tetsuo really was sick, he had to be one of two things then. Just then, the last window was out as one of the corpses were thrown out forcefully, their bones cracking as they hit the ground. Kotori covered her mouth in shock at what was happening and Tokunosuke had ceased the yelling, now clinging to Todoroki. A scream hit their ears as Tetsuko rammed a man out of her house with a crowbar, quickly followed by a sniffling Tetsuo, who ran straight for the one trying to get through a destroyed area of the wall, smashing his head into the ground with a metal rod, looking to be a broken part of some sort of broom or mop.

"Yuma!" Astral pointed wildly at an iron bar, seemingly broken off of the side of the house. Instinctively, he ran to grab it and shoved back a woman lunging for him. "Yuma, what are you doing?!" Akari screamed, jumping out of the car and running to push back a corpse. He didn't answer, instead crushing the woman's head into the dirt. Suddenly, for the first time that day, silence filled the area. No more were in the area; no more were there to fight off. Breathing heavily, Yuma fell to his knees and dropped the iron bar, shaking his head in disbelief, as if to say that he didn't just kill one of them, as if he didn't just smash a woman's head in.

Kotori ran over and grabbed him by the front of his shirt and shook him, crying. "You could have gotten hurt! How could you do that?!"

"I'm fine! I didn't get hurt, so it's fine."

"No, it's not fine; you should have left it to us! We had it handled!" Tetsuo yelled angrily. Defiantly, Yuma pushed Kotori away and crawled backwards, feeling cornered in every sense of the word. Because they didn't have it handled and he wasn't thinking, and it didn't matter because he was fine and it was over, why were they yelling at him about it? It wasn't like they would have done anything differently if they had a chance to defend their friend. "Well, I didn't, and I'm fine!" Nothing he was saying made much of any difference, but he had to say _something. _Finally, Akari sighed in defeat and glanced to Yuma, trying to formulate the right thing to say.

"Everyone's okay and that's all that matters. Let's just all try to _calm down_," She said exasperatedly.

There wasn't much to calm down about. In a matter of seconds, they were in the jeep, Yuma clutching the edges of the windshield as Tetsuko clung to his leg, holding him in place as Akari started up the car, yelling for directions to where Shark supposedly was, or where they assumed he was. Todoroki buried his face in the map, trying to keep himself focused on their destination and _not_ the horrifying sights all around them. There was _nothing_ wrong, they _weren't_ running over dead bodies and not-dead dead bodies, and that _definitely _wasn't an explosion in the distance and the sound of blood splashing on walls.

"Watch out ahead! I mean – right – go right!" Yuma screamed, trying to focus on the direction and the blood and the obstacles and the buildings and trying to ignore the blue alien next to him asking questions that he was much too nauseous to answer. Even before the car came to a complete stop, Yuma jumped out and leaned on the rail of the stairs, trying to calm himself down, listening to Astral's voice and nothing else, uncaring of what he was saying, just to focus on something that didn't make him physically sick. Almost immediately, Kotori was at his side. "Yuma, do you really want to do this? I'm sure that Shark will be alright, you know? We need to get somewhere safe and hide out, okay?" It should have been comforting, but he shook his head. "I can't just…leave him," he whispered. "I'm…sorry."

A moment of silence passed over them. Reluctantly, Tetsuo grabbed the bloody iron bar from the car and threw it to Yuma's feet, startling him. "You'll need it, right? Just try not to use it and hurt yourself."

Yuma picked it up hesitantly, looking up at the stairs and hoping to whatever God existed that Shark was there. Taking one last look at his friends and sister, he took the initiative and carried himself up, putting his guard up for whatever may have awaited them. Of course, he heard a loud groan and a bang when they got close enough and he stopped momentarily before increasing his speed and bolting to the entrance of the headquarters of Shark's former gang. The sight was horrible. Every one of them were there, all that they could remember from when they'd first come, and one was dead and split open and oh, god, stop that. Heartbeat quickening, Yuma took a fighting stance and wait, was that –

A dead man's skull shattered against a wall, a familiar boy kicking him away. "Their heads! Aim for their heads!" He yelled to the others, who nodded in understanding and started to shove the corpses, attempting to crush their heads in. Ryoga grabbed a moving kid by the cuff of his shirt, just a year or so younger than him, and threw him to the ground, stomping on his mouth in a panic, breaking his jaw and ceasing his movement. Just behind him was a man, reaching out to an unsuspecting Ryoga, and Yuma sprinted over, pushing him out of the way and jabbing the man in the ribs, hearing a loud crack as he fell. In a short moment of relief, Yuma sighed and turned to a shocked Shark, but felt himself get yanked down by the ankle, the corpse with his mouth wide open.

Shark bit back a yell, choking on his own spit as he grabbed for the pole in Yuma's hand and swung down on the dead man's skull, finally bringing him to his end. Not stopping to regulate his breathing, he looked around to make sure that the others were taken care of. Sure enough, they were, with everyone gladly intact. Relieved and angry all at once, he dropped the weapon and turned to Yuma, mustering up the deepest and most intimidating glare he could, causing Yuma to flinch and step backwards. Shark was _seething _with rage.

"Just what the hell were you _thinking?!" _Ryoga cried out, shaking Yuma by the shoulders in a tight grip. "You can't just rush into this...these sorts of things need planning and strategy! You're going to get yourself killed, you idiot, do you really want that?!"

If he were even one percent honest about that sort of thing, he'd admit that he probably wanted it less so than Yuma. Of course, when he was so near death, all he could be was angry and exhausted. It seemed as though Yuma wasn't as in his element as he thought, if what Shark was saying rang as the truth, and it very obviously did. Yuma shook his head frantically, staring at Shark as though he was getting ready for a fight, which would have been funny in any other situation, since it wasn't like he'd ever hit Yuma as things were then, and he dropped him to the ground, trying his best to look irritated and _not _relieved. In just a few moments, the rest of the gang members were inside of the building, leaving them all out for whatever next attack could come.

"…Why are you here?"

It's Yuma that asks as he stands, as if Shark has more to explain than he does when it comes to that question. Still, even though that was the first and only place for Yuma to think to look, he didn't actually believe that he'd be there, in all honesty. And everyone looks at Yuma as if to say _"You thought he'd be here, why would you of all people ask that question_?" but it's not his fault that he had no idea of where else to look. Also, with Shark having left the gang, it wasn't even likely that he would have been there, but he _was. _Feeling cornered, he went on to explain. "I thought you left the gang – "

"I did!" Ryoga yells louder this time, feeling attacked. "This is the only place I know! Wouldn't you go to the toughest people you knew in a situation like this?!"

Well, he wouldn't, but what use was there in arguing with him? It didn't matter, either way. He needed Shark, even if he wouldn't say it unless absolutely necessary, and even if he didn't, Shark was still his friend and he needed to make sure that nothing happened. He certainly could defend himself, which was a reason of why he needed him on his side, but even so, Yuma felt partially responsible for the safety and health of his friends, even if he didn't know for sure _why. _In his defense, his friends were people worth worrying about. He wanted to save them because it was their lives that were worth saving.

He tried to come up with something, anything, to make sense of the situation and his reasoning. "Yeah…well, you need people to trust right?! So, that's why you should stick with us, and that's why we came here! You know us, and we might not be the toughest, but when the situation becomes tough, we'll stick with you! Isn't that more important?!"

Silence filled the empty spaces.

It takes everything in Ryoga to keep himself from smiling, and he's definitely _not _looking at Yuma with an admiring gaze. If anything, he was surprised at how much sense Yuma was able to make when he wanted to, or when he tried. He knew that there wasn't much use in fighting with him on the subject, especially not when he had nothing of use to say back, and he looked away, wishing he hadn't come there, wishing he wasn't put in that situation. Before long, he was carrying himself to the steps, to the confusion of everyone else. Turning around, his eyes glazed over Yuma.

"Come on, you don't want to wait here for more of them, do you?"

* * *

Eight seconds.

In eight seconds, the canon would go off and Anna could finally take care of everything. Their plan was simple; round up all the zombies and take them out in one blow, then gather the supplies from the warehouse and the only reason she wasn't the one handling the canon was because the little boy was too afraid to lure the death-bringing-assholes together. They couldn't get past them, so the only choice was to blow through them! Obviously, right? They had to take them **all **out, which was admittedly difficult. Hurriedly, she pressed herself against the wall of the warehouse, behind the scene and she could hear it coming, almost _taste _the explosion, and...

Nothing.

Her first instinct was to yell out "you idiot, that's not how it works!" but it wasn't like she had any means of defending herself if the large number of zombies that she'd now gathered together ran over to take care of her instead. Which, of course, was a very real worry either way. Anna gritted her teeth together and looked around to find him, if only to give him a piece of her mind through body language and a hard glare, but she couldn't find him at all. Not even one little spot of blue showed through the red of the corpses. Suddenly, she began to panic and a million thoughts ran through her head at once. _Did something happen? That idiot! Is he...okay?_

In her frustration, she let out a groan, which was a _bad idea._

She covered her mouth in fear and looked out from her hiding spot, only to see the damned monsters coming towards her. Falling back, she let out a scream and kicked at the first to grab her, ripping off his already decaying jaw and causing him to stumble back, giving her a moment to stand and claw at the fence, attempting to crawl over but to no avail. Widened eyes, she let out a shriek and tears started forming in her eyes as one reached for her. In one last line of defense, Anna brought her arms up in front of her and choked back another scream. It's at this point that she's sobbing, eyes shut tightly as to not process what was in front of her.

Suddenly, Anna was being dragged over the fence, catching her foot in it and falling onto what was pulling her, or more specifically, who. Immediately, she pulled away and let out a yelp of both confusion and relief, seeing the boy beneath her and rubbing his head from the fall. They heard a bang and realized then that the things were trying to break through, to tear them apart, and they stood, frantically sprinting out of the area as quickly as they could. In their hysteria, Anna stopped abruptly and took a sharp turn into an empty alleyway, letting go of him and falling against a wall, letting her breath even out.

"I...what did you...do? What could you have _done?! _What the hell was that?" Anna yelled to him in as hush of a voice as she could while still retaining malice. He flinched and narrowed his eyes defiantly, shaking his head. "I couldn't get it to work. I - I didn't know _how! _You didn't show me...how to..."

His voice died as he trailed off, looking to the side and glaring at the wall. What could he have said? Honestly, he could have just asked her how it worked, but she should have known, but it was also his fault for choosing not to lure the walking corpses together, but could anyone blame him? Even Anna, the girl who he thought was so brave and fearless before, was petrified in the face of the high possibility of death. He still firmly believes in her courage, but even the most dauntless person you'd know gets afraid, too. It was pointless to put the blame on one person exclusively, hell, it was pointless to even think about the blame. What would they do for supplies?

"Where is it?" Anna suddenly asked, partially horrified as her stomach dropped.

Oh, the bazooka. Her bazooka, and the thing that was keeping them alive for the most part. He stuttered, fumbling with his words, afraid of her rage. "I - it was, I, see..."

Anna sighed and her expression softened. "Fuuya, where is it?" She asked again, uncharacteristically calmly and quietly. If she was going to get anywhere with this guy, she needed to slow down.

His stress was mostly alleviated from her tone, letting his hands fall to his sides as he spoke quietly. Still, she would be furious, enraged, and every other synonym and level of anger. She was, of course, frightening when this would happen, but it would pass and they'd move on, but could they move on from this? It was a life-or-death situation, and he was secretly happy to have ran into her fleeing from the set that he was previously at. Quite _literally _did he run into her, and she took him with her on her strange bazooka to run from the creatures. The last thing he saw before passing out then was his mother reaching out for him as she was pulled into the sea of death and clawed at and torn apart. It was more than enough to shake him, but Anna knew that survival was at a higher chance if there were more people on her team. Well, there were good and bad parts, but overall, the good outweighed the bad.

"I left it. Back on the hill, I mean. I couldn't get it to work and saw you get attacked and had to go help..." His voice retreated as he spoke, as if the explanation would soften the impact of the core fact that they'd lost their only method of transportation and their biggest mode of weaponry. He saw Anna's eyes narrow, then raise in conflicted and unreadable emotions. With a hopeless expression, she stood and looked out of the alleyway with calculating eyes. Suddenly, she took a charging stance and _what are you thinking -_

Anna sprinted out, running quite literally for her life towards the hill, the pink weapon in her sights as her pace quickened, Fuuya following desperately in fear of her getting herself hurt. He pushed away a small boy reaching out to him, one of his eyes popped out and hanging from the socket, the other completely blank and his mouth wide open. Fuuya cried out as the little boy attempted to grab at him and take his arm into his mouth, kicking him away and running after Anna, who was at that point much closer to the bazooka. Just as he caught up to her, a man clawed at his leg and Anna rose the weapon to take off, not before grabbing Fuuya up and _oh, god, he was going to die like this,_he thought as his leg felt as if it were going to be torn off. With something resembling a battlecry, Anna kicked off the man, causing his skull to crash into the ground, leaving her to focus on dragging the boy clad in blue onto her machine.

Just when she had the chance, she fled the scene and took one last look at the warehouse. "I don't know what we'll do for supplies, now - "

"I'm sorry."

She looked back at him, surprised not at the interruption, but that he'd apologize for something like that. Why did it even matter then? They were both alive and they left with what they came with, which was much less than what they wanted but just enough to be what they needed. Anna was never the best at comforting people and this was no exception, with the other looking downcast and even ashamed. Her expression hardened, unsure of what to say exactly. "Don't blame yourself, idiot! We're both alive, that's all that matters. That's not the only place with supplies in this city!"

He looked up in surprise and slowly let out a smile. "Yeah...you're right."

* * *

"Blow them up, Orbital!" Kaito screamed out, clutching the coughing boy at his side, knelt onto the ground.

Setting off the detonator, Orbital 7 hurried out of the line of fire and let the fired explode from the dirt, sending blood and body parts flying. All around them was red, anything still alive was blown into submission. Considerably pleased, Kaito smirked at the area, now clear of any hostile creatures. Well, perhaps not. There was one specific hostile creature hanging off his right arm. It was a fairly bad day if the event that got Kaito the most furious had nothing to do with the walking corpses at all, but more with the young man that he'd met there.

"You can't _save _me," IV says, as if the very idea of it is something of a child's. Perhaps it seemed like that, but Kaito knew of strength in large numbers and it wasn't like the other was dead or too much near death - hell, he wasn't even bitten. Still, his arm, or more, what was left of it, bled profusely. There wasn't much that he could do to save him if he didn't get to somewhere with medical supplies soon, and why the hell even save him anyways? Well, it was one person without infection, and Kaito wasn't an idiot. He knew how to pick and choose his battles and that certainly wasn't one of them. With the way the other was leaning, though, it might as well have been.

The trick to saving a person is to make sure that person lets you save them. He'd admit to not being that great on the receiving end, and if he had any less sense of pride, he'd think that he owes Yuma an apology for the difficulty that he now understands comes with from the other end. If anything, the most dangerous enemy of Kaito's was IV in their positions. Still, there wasn't much that he could do, the pain of his arm blinding his senses, including his common sense. Their eyes were like crossed daggers, sharply aimed at each other, neither missing a beat, neither letting their guard down. That determination would have been a good thing if they had been working on using it together, however, something like that couldn't just simply happen.

No, no, it couldn't, but now Kaito was losing his patience.

Kaito's frustration mixed with IV's stubbornness was like a train wreck waiting to happen and so far he couldn't figure out a way to prevent it. All that mattered was getting back to Haruto and ensuring his safety, and normally there wouldn't be any problems with leaving the boy who had hurt his brother to die. Still, with Orbital near his breaking point and photon mode wearing Kaito down, he looked desperately for any source of protection. It was horribly unfortunate that it ended up being IV, but beggars can't be choosers.

Not that Kaito was a beggar. He had every line of fire in Heartland City at his fingertips – or, he would have, if his mode of communication hadn't been demolished. There was only so much that Orbital 7 could take before he'd take serious damage to his internal systems, and it was honestly incredible that he'd been able to fend off the corpses. Still, they needed to move, and quickly, somewhere, anywhere. Well, anywhere that wouldn't get them killed, preferably. IV looked hopeless and Kaito wasn't good at cheering people up, not that he would even if he was. For that matter, neither was Orbital 7, even if he had the intention to do so in the first place. Kaito always liked to believe that actions spoke louder than words.

"Orbital! Get a read on the buildings in the area!"

"U – Understood!"

Honestly, he didn't know if he was able to do that anymore, but luckily it turned out that he was. A partially transparent screen scanned the area, eventually showing a detailed map. If there was any possibility that there was a house of some sort, assuming it hadn't already been taken over, they might have been able to live. The screen closed in on the closest one to their own position, a seemingly large abandoned warehouse. If they could find their way there, they might have been able to rest for a short while, and it would even have been better if there was supplies inside. As Orbital 7 focused on the directions and the easiest way of getting to their destination, Kaito knelt down and let go of IV's arm. Promptly, IV used his hand to prop himself up and attempt to keep what blood he had left in his arm.

There had only been two other instances which had him feeling like that. His arm sent shooting pain up through his whole body, but that wasn't exactly the first thing that he was worried about. What the hell was with this kid? Why hadn't he just left him to die? Logically, it shouldn't have made any sense at all for him to help. Still, he couldn't think too hard about it. Already, he was light-headed and knew that if he was to stand for even a few minutes_ if he was careful_, he would definitely pass out.

It just didn't seem right. There wasn't any obvious hidden motive in his actions, just urgency, which admittedly made sense for the current situation. "You don't need help," IV said, and he didn't really know why he said that. Maybe to convince him that he wasn't worth their time, which was only halfway true.

"I'm not _looking_ _for your_ _help_," hissed Kaito.

It was a lie and felt like a lie and sounded like a lie, but what else was there to say? If he knew that Kaito needed his help...it was easier to stay vague for the time being, at least. Explain later; right then, they needed to get to safety no matter what. It didn't make much difference, either way. If they ran into anything on the way to their destination, they'd be inevitably dead – Kaito wasn't stupid and realized that they didn't stand very much of a valid chance against those things. At that point, if he was thinking clearly, he'd recognize that saving IV was even more dangerous to their possibility of survival.

But he wasn't, and at that point, it didn't matter. Just so long as they could all get out alive…

With what little strength they had left, all three of them struggled to the warehouse. It was too much, too risky, but what choice did they have? Hopefully, they wouldn't be heard. But, then again, hope wasn't a strong point for any of them.

* * *

If one had to name the safest place in Heartland City at that time, it had to be at the center, within the tower. That much was, of course, obvious. Robots lined the outsides, fending off anything and everything trying to force their way in. It wasn't like Gauche and Droite couldn't defend themselves, they simply did not have time to.

Well, they did, but they couldn't bother themselves to. There wasn't much to do, to fight, and they could get wrongly involved in the crossfire. Which, of course, was something that they had both looked to avoid. A bit bittersweet, wasn't it? To be trapped in the supposedly safest area of the city...wasn't it a little ironic? At least they weren't under a horrible attack; in fact, the center of the city was relatively quiet. Nowhere was truly quiet, of course, but it really was all perspective at that point. But that wasn't the point.

No, their main concern then was Haruto.

Kaito was frequently not around, hunting for the numbers nearly constantly. Still, not so frequently were they under attack without him. They could definitely stay safe, or at the very least keep Haruto safe. There wasn't much that they could do other than that – especially since there was no way of leaving. Even if there were, they wouldn't. Maybe it was because Gauche knew Driote wouldn't leave that he, too, stayed, but Haruto was her main priority. She'd readily admit that she legitimately cared for him past her job; of course, she had no idea of how Gauche felt.

What were they to do? Feeling helpless was horrible and they knew that emotion much better than they likely should have. No one was there to save them, no, they were the ones doing the saving. And Kaito expected them to be able to take care of Haruto, which they'd do their damn best to accomplish, but what if they couldn't? It was a horrible thing to feel stuck, both physically and emotionally. There she stood; towering over the boy's sleeping form. Suddenly, Gauche put a hand on her shoulder to signal that they should inform Heartland of the situation. Finally.

But she couldn't move. Not just yet.

He let his arm drop to his side, eyes glazing over her, then Haruto. There wasn't much that they could do, only what they were told, and was that enough? Neither knew the answer. They could die any minute, not that it was likely, but the tower was never the most stable. The robots weren't _people_, no matter how advanced; they couldn't know better than to simply destroy the enemies. What about the damage that they could have done? It was too risky, but risky was what they looked for.

Gauche stared solemnly. Poor kid. What the hell was going on? He shouldn't have been forced to go through that bullshit when he was unconscious, and he'd – _they'd _make sure that he wouldn't have to. Haruto was still weak and, at that point, vulnerable. No way in hell would they leave his side, not anytime soon, at least, right? Haruto's expression constricted in pain, clearly going through a nightmare of sorts. Was their protection enough to keep the creatures away?

"So," Droite started, avoiding eye contact with the man next to her, "this is what it feels like when someone thinks that you can save them."

"Not a fan of the feeling, either."

She looked down, staring at her palm, as if it held all of the answers to her unasked questions.

Suddenly, a monstrous crash caught their attention.

* * *

The very last thing that you wanted to be in a zombie apocalypse was alone.

III knew what he was doing, walking around with a limp, uncaring to his surroundings, rubbing his wrist with his thumb, and he's_ fine,_ he thinks. Because he had to be. It had to have only been a few hours since he'd last seen anyone recognizable. Who the hell was he kidding? Even with the twisted version of his family, which had recently been changed, he'd never been fully alone. Even then, he was the youngest in the family and everyone had an instinct to protect him. There was no one to protect him now, no one but himself. But that didn't matter because he was _fine._

His leg was bleeding and his arm was even worse. Maybe it was by force of habit that he'd brought himself to the nearest hospital. It was easy to tell that it was one of the best places to retreat to, in whatever outcome. If it was empty, surely there were to be medicinal drugs for him to use to dull the pain. With the sharp objects all around, he'd be able to defend himself. But even though those were all good reasons, they were not the reasons for him to have gone. Really, his main concern was finding someone, but at the same time it wasn't, because they'd know that something was wrong with him. Except that wouldn't make any sense, because he's completely fine.

It seemed so close, yet so far away. How could a building be so far away when it used to seem so close by before? Bandages were the first to grab, then some medicine; he had the whole place mapped out in his mind. Now to get there not only mentally, but physically.

Before he could forget, he felt for his deck. Good, it was still there.

Not that it could do much then. Those things didn't seem to want to duel; he figured that out when he'd been cornered by them. Their only motivation is flesh and blood. He'd be lying if he said that he was even remotely knowledgeable on the subject of self-defense, especially against those creatures. What were they? They looked so human, yet not. Time ticked on by as he stepped slowly up the stairs, straining his leg even further. Maybe he was in a rush, maybe he wasn't, but all he knew was that he wouldn't be able to go on for much longer if he continued walking on an injured leg. Spotting a bench, his eyes glazed over his surroundings wearily, knowing that he could get ambushed again at any second. Eventually, with no one in sight and his pain getting the better of his judgement, he took a seat to rest momentarily.

It didn't take much for him to get moving again. Somewhere, he could faintly hear a foreign noise.

Thankfully, III knew the hospital inside and out, every room and hall and curve, where everything was located perfectly. That was why he should have been considerably less surprised when he heard groaning in the various rooms. But something was wrong, something presumably in his head, except that wouldn't make any sense, since he was totally and completely fine. Where was he? Oh...probably not leaning against a wall, at least, he shouldn't have been. The closer he got to the room he needed, the louder the voices got. Come on, it had to be coming from somewhere else, because it didn't sound natural. _Help...help me, get me out, is anyone there?_No, no one was there, III definitely wasn't there.

Please leave a message. III can't talk to anyone at the moment.

And it wasn't until he stepped into the room that he realized that the voices were booming, and all in his vicinity. Just as he finished practically throwing on his bandages, he heard them grow even louder. Not his voice, someone else's, at least, he thought so. An overwhelming sense of fear rushed over him. What if _they_ could talk? What would happen to him? What if they were dangerous to him? They needed to stop, wherever they were coming from. He couldn't deal with that, not then, not when he was dizzy from blood loss. Suddenly, he covered his hands with his ears, disabling him from closing the cabinet in front of him. In a final defense mechanism, he crouched down. _This is it. This is how I'm going to die._

Eventually, the voices all merged into one, forming a faint and feminine cry for help.

"Help...is anyone there? Please!"

It was strained, as if all of her life was being sucked out with every inhale and exhale. It didn't take long for III to stand straight and look around the room, eyes resting on a form in a full body cast and oh no, no, not her.

He knew who that was. Rio Kamishiro.

Of course, she had no idea of who he was. How could she? Not once had they met and the when he'd seen her she'd been completely unaware. Even then, it had only been a few times. He didn't know what she wanted, was it to be unwrapped? That thought was ridiculous. If she was in bandages, it was for a reason, and he knew what that reason was, and her doctors and nurses knew what that reason was. Should he even have said anything? Even if it was wrong, he did, and almost immediately regretted it. "...Hello?" With his quiet greeting, she lurched from the bed in surprise and apparent delight. Why was she so happy to see someone? Was she so unwilling to go without a bit of a fight? That was...he didn't even know. He couldn't judge it because he'd done just that earlier that day.

"Hello?! Please...please unwrap my bandages. I'll...I'll be okay. Please, I can't go like this. Help me..." It was very blatant pleading, reddening his face in bewilderment, unaware of what to do or how to comply with her request, and he really wished that he could just run away with an empty conscience, rid the girl from his mind and not be plagued with guilt. But III couldn't just leave someone like that, no, of course not. The girl's statement felt like a lie and sounded like a lie, but what could he do? Before he knew what he was doing, he was muttering 'alright' and sulking towards her, instinctively pulling at his sleeve to cover his wrist.

There was something about his experience with putting on bandages that made it much easier than it should have been, but his inexperience with seeing incredibly severe burns made him ready to vomit when he saw her, the disgusting flame-like flesh on almost half of her body, the bags under her wide, cold eyes, her disheveled hair...she looked as if she'd gone through a war and stared as if she were still in one. It was clear that she'd been heavily treated, and of course if she could have stayed for treatment, the scars likely would have been taken care of. Heartland had some of the best medical technology that he'd ever seen...it was amazing that she was able to move.

The very first time that he laid his eyes on her after unwrapping her body, he knew that she was ready to fight for her life much harder than he was. He couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad thing.

She put a hand on his shoulder, softening her eyes as much as she could, smiling gratefully. "Thank you...so much. Please, everyone else, I heard screaming, and my nurse...she explained the situation when I begged for her to, but now..."

Rio trailed off, something that she'd been doing much more recently. Her chest felt heavy and her skin felt sticky and hot, whether from the lack of air conditioning, the closeness of the two, or her burns. She ran out of breath easily, but she was sure that would change if she got moving. A hospital was never a good place to hide out, mostly from the central location. She knew that she's have to get somewhere safe and hide out, but this boy, he saved her, so she just couldn't leave him. "My name is...Rio," she explained, eyes glazing over her surroundings. His head snapping up, III stared at her, confused, before he realized that she didn't know that he knew her name. With a nervous laugh, he returned her smile and spoke. "I'm III."

Naturally, she raised an eyebrow at the abnormal name, but said nothing of it. "We should get moving. We're probably surrounded. Do you think that maybe we should stick together?"

Directly to the point. No wonder his older brother had to resort to using that card against her, she seemed analytical, strategic, and blunt. A bit humorously, he thought of someone else who was very much like that. Still, he had to answer her question, not only for her, but for _him_, as well. Did he want to do that, to help someone like her? They'd all understand, right? The situation was desperate, and maybe someone like her was necessary to his survival, which he was very much planning to achieve. Without her, he might die, and if he left her by herself, she might die, herself, and how could he live with himself if that happened?

Too many choices flooded his head at once and he nodded absently, bringing a smile to her face. On the inside he was conflicted, but she was already at the doorway. If she'd been feeling any pain at all, she certainly wasn't showing it, but he didn't know how scars worked anyways. Eyes downcast, he looked at his leg and then continued to stare at her. Maybe this wasn't a bad idea. He could work with her, maybe just as well as he'd been able to work with ones closer to him. There was something about her that he was partially afraid of and partially drawn to. Perhaps it was her leadership.

He needed a leader, someone to guide him, and he stood slowly while rubbing the bite marks on his wrist.


End file.
